Reading Comprehension Strategy Series: How To Teach Students to Ask Questions When They Read
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Questioning is a reading strategy that is taught to students to help them engage with the text. It helps the reader to clarify what he or she is reading and to better understand the text. Asking good questions is a way for students to monitor their own comprehension while reading.
Struggling readers approach reading as a passive experience. This means that they read the words with the idea that the meaning of the text will reveal itself if they read enough words. However, good readers challenge the text by asking questions as they read. They might ask questions like: Why did they say that? What do they mean by that? I wonder what they were doing there? How did she do that? Why am I reading this? When taught how to ask questions, students learn that they can increase their comprehension.
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what you need to know before teaching The Questioning Reading Strategy:
Asking questions will provide students with a purpose for reading. As they read, students will seek answers to their questions for deeper meaning of the text. Students can ask questions for a variety of reasons:
to clarify meaning (ex. What does that word mean? Why is that happening? What I am learning?)
to understand the characters and events better (ex. Why did the character do that? Why did that happen? What would happen if…?)
to understand the author’s intent (ex. Why did the author write this?)
to make predictions (ex. I wonder if ____ will happen?)
Good readers actively ask questions before, during, and after reading. Before reading, students might ask themselves what the story will be about, what they might learn, or what they already know about the topic. During reading, students pay attention to clues in the text that spark questions. Since each student has different background knowledge, each reader will wonder different things about the text.
While reading, the reader’s questions are constantly evolving. As questions are answered, new questions will arise. Monitoring how these questions evolve will increase comprehension.
It is also important for students to stop and ask questions when something they read does not make sense. They may need to clarify a meaning of a word, or seek to understand a confusing part of the story. These clarifying questions help students to self-monitor their comprehension.
We must also help students to ask relevant and logical questions. The purpose of asking questions is to enhance comprehension, therefore, any question that a student asks should stem from the main ideas of the text and not just loosely related to the topic.
After reading, students evaluate their questions. They ask themselves how their questions were answered and what they have learned from the text. They also may realize that not all of their questions were answered. In these cases, students may be required to infer their own answers based on the text and their background knowledge.
Readers ask different types of questions depending on the genre that they are reading. When reading fiction, students tend to ask questions about the characters and events. While reading nonfiction, students may ask themselves questions about what they are learning, the meaning of new vocabulary words, or what the author is trying to teach them.
Finally, when teaching the questioning strategy, it is important for students to ask different types of questions that will improve their comprehension. This can be referred to as asking “thin” vs “thick” questions. Thin questions are surface-level questions that usually can be answered by looking right in the text. Thick questions, on the other hand, require students to use their own background knowledge to dive deeper. Answers to thick questions can be subject to interpretation. They use evidence from the text, but also draw from the personal experience of the reader. Asking both types of questions will give the reader a well-rounded reading experience.
INTRODUCING THE QUESTIONING STRATEGY TO STUDENTS
As with teaching most things, it is helpful to start with the concrete and move toward the abstract.
A great first activity to use when introducing the questioning strategy is called “What’s In My Bag?”
To use this activity, you will first need to place an ordinary object into a paper bag. This item could be a comb, toothbrush, a pencil, etc. It needs to be something that students would be able to guess.
Show students your bag, but not the item in the bag. Invite students to ask questions about the item in your bag. Encourage students to ask open-ended questions to gather clues (ex. What is the item used for? Where do you use it? Rather than: Is it an apple?) Students will realize that they will get a better understanding of what the object is if they ask these open-ended questions instead of just randomly trying to ask what the object is.
Connect this activity to real reading. When we ask good questions, our thinking about something is refined and changes. Finding answers to our questions often leads to even more questions, which leads to deeper understanding. For example, in the “What In My Bag?” activity, a student would change their next question based on their previous question. In reading, an answer to one of our questions can dictate what our next thought or question might be. Asking questions helps students engage with the text.
Modeling How to Ask Questions While Reading
When you move into using this strategy with a book, provide students with prompts that might guide their questions:
I wonder…?
How come…?
Why…?
What is…?
You will first want to model using the questioning strategy in a read-aloud. Be sure to choose a book that lends itself to asking questions. Begin by modeling the questions that you have before you read. You may choose to jot these questions down on an anchor chart for students to see. Here’s a sample anchor chart:
These “before” questions may stem from the title, what you already know about the topic or author, or even illustrations found on the cover or in the book itself.
Likewise, model questions that you have during reading (jot them down on the anchor chart). You could also write these questions down on post-it notes and place on the text itself where the question occurred. This will help when you go back to review your questions with the students after reading.
When asking questions, point out in the text what sparked the question, and explain your thinking. Here’s an example:
“When I read __________, it made me wonder why _______ because ____________.”
Explain to students that sometimes while reading, your questions will be answered later on in the book, while others you’ll have to infer the answer based on your own knowledge and the details the author does tell you.
After reading, review the questions that you had previously asked. These questions can also be listed on the anchor chart. Discuss any answers that you may have found to your questions, as well as inferences you have for unanswered questions. Be sure to also address any lingering questions that you might have after finishing the story.
Once students have had the chance to practice asking questions, help students to go deeper by asking thoughtful and complex questions. This can be done by teaching them the difference between “Thick” and “Thin” questions. The anchor chart on the right may be helpful to teach the distinction between the two.
When modeling the questioning strategy, be sure to indicate whether the question you are asking is thick or thin. Be sure to provide multiple examples of each. If desired, go back to your original anchor chart and have students help you identify which questions were thin and which were thick.
CHOOSE TEXTS THAT ASSIST IN ASKING QUESTIONS:
Of course we want students to be able to ask questions regardless of what book they are reading. However, as students have their first experiences working this this strategy, choose books that lend themselves to asking questions will help students to have a quick win, and easily see this strategy in action.
Books with more obvious opportunities to ask questions will help set students up for success and will train their brains to stop and ask questions while they read AND look for those answers as the continue reading.
Here are some of my favorites: (affiliate links)
The Stranger by: Chris Van Allsburg
The Empty Pot by: Demi
Fly Away Home by: Eve Bunting
Plant Secrets by: Emily Goodman
Practicing Asking Questions:
CREATE SIMPLE VISUALS TO REMIND STUDENTS TO ASK QUESTIONS
Asking questions may seem second nature to us, but young readers benefit from simple reminders to use this reading strategy until it becomes second nature for them as well. Visuals such as bookmark to use while reading, or a classroom poster that is displayed on a reading strategy bulletin board work wonderfully to nudge students to ask questions while reading.
Continue to create anchor charts displaying the questions that you ask during read-alouds. You can even create a class anchor chart where students post their own questions about a book that you are reading together as a class.
USE LINKtivity DIGITAL LEARNING GUIDES
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If you’ve not yet discovered LINKtivity digital learning guides, then you (AND your students) don’t know what you’re missing! LINKtivities are interactive, engaging, and so fun for learning and practicing new skills like reading strategies.
I created a LINKtivity specifically for teaching students how to ask questions while reading. Check out the video below for a sneak-peek!
Here’s how it works:
In the Asking Questions LINKtivity, students first watch a short animated video clip that quickly catches their attention with fun doodles and images. The clip introduces what the strategy is and how readers use it.
From there they read alongside their “virtual reading buddy” to see the strategy applied to a text. While clicking through the digital book, each time the student comes across a thought bubble, they click on it and are brought to a new slide in the LINKtivity guide to see what their reading buddy is thinking!
Then, to take their learning to the next level, students read 3 additional high-interest reading passages to practice the strategy on their own. In a similar fashion as they did with their reading buddy, students click through the digital storybook and stop to ask questions along the way.
HAVE STUDENTS KEEP TRACK OF THEIR QUESTIONS WHILE READING
Having students write down their questions is critical in informing you of their understanding of the strategy. From their written questions you can see if their questions are meaningful, relevant, and logical to the story that they are reading. You can also see if they tend to ask the same types of questions (thin vs. thick) and if they are seeking out answers to their questions as they read.
Writing down their questions also keeps them accountable for their learning and gives you an informal assessment.
assessing your students on asking questions
Assessment, whether it be formal or informal, drives instruction. For more informal assessments, take notes about a students use of the questioning strategy during reading conferences or in small groups. Considering the following when observing the students’ use of the strategy:
Note the types of questions a student asks (thick vs. thin, clarifying questions, etc.)
Are the questions relevant to the story?
Do the question make sense to the events and details of the book?
Can the student explain why he/she is asking a specific question?
Can the student explain how the question helps his/her comprehension
Does the student notice when his/her questions are answered?
Can the student infer an answer to a question that has not been directly answered in the text?
Does the student ask follow up questions?
Having a rubric written in kid-friendly language is especially helpful when providing feedback to a student on their ability to ask questions. The rubric can provide clear guidelines on how to ask questions while reading.
Resources for Asking Questions
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Join the LINKtivity® Learning Membership and start using this ready-to-go resource for asking questions that includes:
a teacher guide
a student LINKtivity
a student recording sheet
a student-friendly rubric
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Check out the other posts in this series
Click on any image below to read and learn about another reading comprehension strategy.